Thread: Blast Injuries
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Old 04-28-2004, 14:14   #3
Roguish Lawyer
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You want to credit that, right?

http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic63.htm

Here's some more:

Mortality/Morbidity:

Mortality rates vary widely. Injury is caused both by direct blast overpressure (primary blast injury) and by a variety of associated factors.

Mortality is increased when explosions occur in closed or confined spaces (eg, terrorist bus bombings) or under water. Land mine injuries are associated with a high risk of below- and above-the-knee amputations. Fireworks-related injuries prompt an estimated 10,000-12,000 ED visits in the United States annually, with 20-25% involving either the eye or hand.

Presence of tympanic membrane (TM) rupture indicates that a high-pressure wave (at least 40 kilopascal [kPa], 6 psi) was present and may correlate with more dangerous organ injury. Theoretically, at an overpressure of 100 kPa (15 psi), the threshold for lung injury, TM routinely ruptures; however, a recent Israeli case series of 640 civilian victims of terrorist bombings contradicts traditional beliefs about a clear correlation between the presence of TM injury and coincidence organ damage. Of 137 patients initially diagnosed as having isolated eardrum perforation who were well enough to be discharged, none later developed manifestations of pulmonary or intestinal blast injury. Furthermore, 18 patients with pulmonary blast injuries had no eardrum perforation.

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